Page 12 of The Alpha’s Forced Omega (Alaska Alpha Wolves #1)

Waking up with a start, I lug in a few deep breaths and wipe the sweat beading my forehead with the back of my hand. Sighing when I realize that I was just dreaming, I’m not sure if I should be relieved or irritated.

Of course, I can’t control my dreams unless I learn of a hidden power that allows me to dream consciously. It isn’t my fault that the dream consisted of Elias McGruff, my body tingling in reality as if his dreamy lips and fantasy touches were as real as the chilly air outside his house.

His house.

A sudden urge to pinch myself is bemusing when I remember that I’m in Alpha Elias McGruff’s home. Once, long ago, when I entertained the idea that Elias was a sweet, kind soul who would open up to my love, I fancied myself being brought to his home as his luna.

It was the craziest fantasy, and it was shattered when he rejected me on the mountains when the failure of my inner wolf had already knocked me down. I’d been torn to shreds, my dreams broken into tiny fragments strewn across that mountain.

Now that the dream is a reality again, the circumstances aren’t what I hoped they would be. Even still, my hand goes up to my lips where I absentmindedly stroke the bottom bud, imagining his kisses all over again.

I could have sworn that he was going to kiss me this morning when he showed me to the guest bedroom. Even though we’d been arguing, he’d taken an imposing step forward, and his eyes flitted to my lips.

There was just something about the way his hazel eyes glinted with a hunger so raw and primal that it sprang me back to the motel room where he’d taken my virginity.

My mind wanders to the passion we shared last night, prompting me to throw my legs over the bed and find the floor beneath my feet. As the nighttime snowfall whooshes against the building and squeals through the tiny cracks around the window, I suddenly feel brave enough to leave the bedroom.

Perhaps I’m enchanted by the memories of the things he did to my body, how he made me feel things I could only dream about.

Feeling his hands groping my curves and loving every inch while he was buried deep inside me, far surpassed my wildest expectations of what passion with the alpha could be like.

It’s those lingering memories that lightly tingle my skin even now that have me floating across the bedroom barefooted, hanging on his parting words before he left me here.

“I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

Right now, my wolf needs him even if I’m not in heat. My body’s memory moves my feet until I find myself outside his bedroom door, sheepishly staring at the wooden frame as I imagine what he might be doing inside there.

It’s late, and he must be asleep. But even with this knowledge, I end up lifting my hand as if I’m about to knock on his door.

No!

Wait…

This isn’t right.

Though the alpha assured me that if I needed anything, he’d be in his room, what I need isn’t something he can give me.

I quickly retract my hand, catching myself in this stupor of the late night that had me coming out here in the first place. Even if my inner wolf drew me here on impulse, I can’t be foolish enough to actually believe that the Alpha cares about me.

Beyond his words of reassurance, I saw the way he pulled away from me this morning. He doesn’t find me attractive at all and only acted upon his wolf’s desire when he found me on heat at the motel.

It meant nothing. Neither does him bringing me back to Girdwood and claiming to his subordinates and the Elders of the pack that I am his mate.

A premonition?

How ridiculous!

Scoffing under my breath, I turn my face to the side and let it fall with the shame that washes over me. How could I be so foolish as to think that the passion we shared at the motel meant anything?

For all I know, Elias has another trick up his sleeve; that’s why he brought me back and spared my life with the claim that I am his mate and I’ll carry his child. Though I want to dismiss the idea, my eyes flit to my round belly, and a hand comes up to cradle it.

A child?

I can’t even imagine what that would mean. It’s not possible—especially not after one night together.

That’s all it was, right?

A one-night stand with an alpha who probably goes through a throng of women in his bed behind that door.

Besides, the only reason I’m caught in this web is because of the demon and the pack’s plan to offer me as a sacrifice.

What Elias witnessed out in the valley must have given him some grand idea—like how to use the powers no one believed my grandmother had about to defeat the demon and keep his pack safe.

He’s the only one who ever saw those powers in action, and I was able to injure the demon with them.

Not only did he use my body when his wolf sensed my heat, but he’s using me now to fulfill a prophecy that I’m not even sure is real. If the pack’s council cared enough to question me this morning, I wouldn’t have even been able to confirm what Elias told them.

I didn’t have a vision that foretold the demont’s defeat with a child conceived between Elias and me. And I especially do not accept his claim that I am his mate.

It’s not like I’ll ever be able to trust him after what he said to break my heart. I have to be firm in my resolve and maintain that now, all he’s doing is pretending so that he can get his way. He’s wearing a mask of kindness, and before long, it will slip to reveal his true intentions.

Until then, I am trapped, left to do a walk of shame of sorts back down the passage.

Once inside the guest bedroom, I hear the echo of the hinges on his door crying out, but I remain locked in the bedroom, not wanting him to know that I’m affected by any of this.

I have to remain strong, uptight, and unaffected until I know what he wants.

If I’m to be trapped in this cage of being his mate, the least I can do is not let my heart get involved or let my guard down.

I’ve been forced to be wary all my life, cautious about my every move so that I wouldn’t get into any sort of trouble.

The toughest blow I’d ever faced wasn’t the cruel words of the pack members, but Elias’s rejection during the most vulnerable moment of my life.

I muster every ounce of self-control to ignore the footsteps going down the passage.

It can only be Elias walking past, but I won’t allow myself to become stupefied by his mere existence.

It didn’t work out the first time around, and it won’t happen now. Not when I’ve only just discovered my latent mystical powers.

The demon dog was drawn to me for that reason—I’m sure of it.

But it’s also why Elias is keeping me alive, not wanting to sacrifice me to the ancient spirit that threatens his pack. He wants to use me, and I have to figure out why.

Slipping into bed, an unsettling restlessness weighs down on me as I stare at the ceiling. Perhaps it’s because I know that he’s awake and that I can hardly escape him when I sleep, dreaming him up in ways that make no sense.

Huffing a discontented sigh, I press my eyelids shut and cross my arms, too troubled by my situation to care about wasting energy on all this thinking. The only thing I can do is rely on my wavering faith and pray to the Moon Goddess to give me a sign or reveal Elias’s true intentions.

***

Two Days Later

“This is the last of your things,” Elias announces as he carries another box into the guest bedroom.

Standing at the window while I nervously wring my hands behind me, a fleeting frown lasts only as long as it takes for him to set the box down along with the others stacked beside the dressing table. When he straightens up and lifts his eyes to mine, I school my expression and keep my lips pursed.

Elias stares at me expectantly, and right now, I’m not even sure what to do. My eyes flicker to the stack of boxes, then back to him, where his warm hazel pits ensnare me in some unknown expectation.

Should I be thanking him for bringing my belongings from my cabin to his house?

Or should I be questioning why any of this is happening?

“Th-thank you,” I stammer uncertainly, gulping when Elias continues staring at me as if he’s going to say something. He appeared as frozen as the frosted leaves on the trees I’d been staring at all morning as I mulled over why he was bringing my things over from my cabin.

He’s adamant about me staying here, in his home, where I’m meant to be his mate and luna of the pack.

I know how ridiculous it sounds—I can barely believe it myself, wanting to pinch my wrist even now.

Doing just that behind my back, I stifle the urge to wince when I pinch my skin between my thumb and forefinger, but the slight smarting pain seems to reach Elias when he finally makes a move, cutting the awkward tension in the air when he rubs his nape with one hand.

“Please join me in the kitchen downstairs,” he says, appearing rather tense and even nervous when he turns to the door. “I think we should talk.”

With that, Elias walks out, leaving me in the guest bedroom to stare at the boxes and wonder why on earth he’s acting so strangely.

My eyes narrow as my mind wanders to the suspicion that all of this is a show. The last time he wanted to talk, he was going to break the news that I was set to be the pack’s offering to the demon.

I know what I saw the other night when he pulled away from me.

He has no inclination toward me, no feelings at all.

Just as I decided to strengthen my resolve back then, I decide to reaffirm that I will not be fazed by his actions and foolishly fall for his tricks.

Removing my hands from behind my back, I curl them into fists of determination as I decide to face whatever he throws my way.

If I could get over his rejection once, I can handle anything he throws as punches at me.

With my resolve steely, my spine ramrod straight like a brick wall that’s ready for any kind of impact, I head down to the kitchen.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the impact of a maglev train coming full speed toward me, the brakes cut, and the conductor out of sight, crashing into me with flashes of a scene I wasn’t expecting.

Alpha Elias McGruff, the calculated, revered leader of the Snehvolk Pack of Alaska, is standing at the island table with a pan in one hand and a ladle in the other, surrounded by the appetizing aroma of freshly cooked breakfast.

He looks up and disarms me with a charming smile, my knees threatening to give way under my weight when his allure extends to his leveled tone when he says, “Take a seat.” He points to a chair where a plate has been prepared with a poached egg and crispy bacon. “I made you breakfast.”

What is he playing at?

The question of suspicion knocks around an empty skull that’s void of any other thought, causing a ringing in my eardrums like the siren of a warning bell. Stunned, I remain frozen on the spot, only my brows moving to furrow with confusion.

Something about this doesn’t feel right. Why would Elias McGruff, the Alpha of Snehvolk, prepare breakfast for me?

Has he poisoned the food? Does he plan on knocking me out and proceeding to harness my powers as a way to defeat the demon? Or is this how he disarms me, to sneak up on me and take what he wants when my guard drops and I least expect him to attack?

When I lug in a breath after what feels like an eternity of not breathing, the air scorches my lungs and slices through my bones, spurring me into impulsive movement as my fight-or-flight reflexes kick into gear.

I spin on my heel, making for the door, desperately needing a breath of fresh air when the kitchen becomes too stifling.

Even if I allowed myself to bask in the pleasantness of someone doing something nice for me, I’m unable to receive such treatment. Even if I thought, for one second, that Alpha Elias was actually kind-hearted and doing all of this out of the goodness of his heart, I can’t accept it.

No one has ever done anything for me. Growing up, only Grandmother doted on me, while everyone around me chose to be cruel.

If it wasn’t for my weight, then it was because of my dampened wolf.

I’ve never been able to catch a break, and this time, it’s no different.

Especially since the alpha cannot be trusted.

Refusing to believe that this is some sort of stroke of luck, or that the Moon Goddess has suddenly decided to take kindly to me and change my fate, I hastily push through the back door I somehow found my way toward, sighing out my wariness and disgruntlement as soon as the icy winds kiss my cheeks like a slap against the contrast of heated flesh.

Behind me, I hear shuffling as Elias follows me out of the house. I groan irritably, stepping over the back porch and into the snow without snow boots to protect my feet. The icy flakes slip through my toes like the sand on a beach, but there’s nothing pretty or elating about my current situation.

“Aurora…where are you going?” Elias calls from behind, and my desperate need to get away from this web of distrust has me stepping forward until a large, strong hand grabs my shoulder.

Why won’t he just leave me alone ?! I think irritably. Isn’t it enough that he rejected me in the past? Is this his way of reiterating that he’s the powerful Alpha of the Snehvolk Pack, and he can do whatever he wants? It isn’t fair!